This pandemic has had a negative impact on people in multiple ways. As time ebbs on,
businesses will close and some of your favorite restaurants may or may not be amongst the
survivors. Let’s look at 10 Reasons Why 50 Percent Of Restaurants May Not Survive
The Pandemic.
Accessibility
Okay, so even if restaurants do open back up and take all the precautions necessary,
people still have to get there. That in itself may certainly be a deterrent for some folks
who do not have a car. Public transport, while running, may not be the place that most people
want to be right now. So, if restaurants traditionally do not have a lot of local walk-in customers,
or they require a vehicle to access, then they are at risk of losing customers. Now,
you may think there’s always Uber or taxis or that kind of thing… well, that has become
an added element to a night out for dinner. Taking an Uber or a cab would mean paying
more out of pocket (and money is tight now for most, so that may not be an ideal option)
but it also means exposing yourself to yet another person. Suddenly, the restaurants
that are very close to your home become way more appealing than those far away, and that
is just a fact.
Inventory
When this all began and restaurants had to close many of them lost a bunch of inventory.
It wasn’t every restaurant that was able to shift to delivery as if nothing happened.
Even those who did move to delivery or pick up right away had to contend with all of the
extra fresh produce and meat that they had on hand. Considering the amount of people
that were no longer able to be served inside, many many restaurants took an inventory hit.
They had to throw things away. They had to stop buying from suppliers. They had to manage
what they had. That alone may have been enough to close some places already. Maybe some restaurants
just lost too much expensive inventory and they no longer have the funds to restock for
a re-opening? Inventory is also extra-hard to manage in a reopening, because how much
do you restock? There’s no protocol for this type of thing; like “when in a pandemic,
never fear, just reduce your regular purchasing and inventory by 63%”. No, unfortunately
that kind of very specific manual does not exist! So restaurants are left to figure it
all out and that can be and will continue to be very hard for most.
Space
Let’s be real, if an independent restaurant has a very small space with tables crammed
together, then there will obviously be some issues with resuming business as normal. Normal,
as in pre-pandemic. Businesses will no longer be able to have strangers sitting nearly on
top of each other. It is just not practical from a health perspective or even from a social
perspective. Many people will not want to be that close to people they don’t know.
So, will restaurants be putting up plexi-glass barriers? Will that be enough to keep them
open and in business? The space issue is huge. Unless everyone is keeping their cool and
following the mandated rules to maintain a happy and healthy environment, then there
is a chance that space, or lack of space, becomes the issue that breaks the camel’s
back so to speak.
Trust
Customers will have to have some serious trust to go into a restaurant or even order pick
up or delivery from them. Why? It’s a pandemic! People may be uncertain whether or not a restaurant
is abiding by the rules of conduct, and that may deter them from going to the restaurant,
which in turn, would lead to businesses going under. Restaurants are now facing even higher
standards to keep their customers coming through the door. Customers will want to know, more
than ever before, that the chefs cooking their meals are wearing the proper gear so that
the food is in no way contaminated or put into sanitary jeopardy. Additionally, customers
will want to know that the waiters carrying out their food are also taking the proper
precautions. From the time the food is made to the time it is in front of you, anything
can happen. Moreover, owners will likely be pretty strict about mask wearing and glove
wearing and that may rub some workers the wrong way. Then you may have situations in
which it is kind of the other way around: maybe the owners are more relaxed about the
rules then, say, the employees are. So trust issues may potentially be the cause of a bad
atmosphere and negative working environment. It is important for everyone to be on the
same page in order for a re-opening to be executed properly. It is, after all, all
about trust.
Outbreak
So, it’s probably fair to say that if an outbreak was in fact reported as originating
in a restaurant then that restaurant would be in serious trouble. No one would want to
go back to the place that infected a bunch of people. That’s just natural. It is sad
and it sucks for any restaurant that may find itself in that situation, but that is the
reality of operating during a pandemic. Furthermore, if and when something like that happens it
might scare a whole bunch of others into not ordering from or going to any restaurants
to eat. So, outbreaks are a major player in the reopening and longevity of a restaurant.
Yes, many restaurants will reopen but the real question is will they last?
Staff
It was already hard enough to find reliable staff to work at restaurants, so now, in a
pandemic, finding and keeping strong staff members must be an even greater feat. From
the point of view of a restaurant staff member, there are suddenly so many things to consider
that may make you less likely to want to keep going into work. They have to think about
who they are bringing any potential infection home to. Do they have kids? Do they have a
spouse or partner who has a compromising health condition? Do they themselves have a health
condition? Heck, if you had asthma, something that may never have been an issue at work
before, you may be realizing that now it is a problem and you may not want to be working.
There have been stories all over the world about people not going into work – whether
it was in long care homes or in grocery stores – so why would restaurants be any different?
Maybe staff will be gung-ho at the beginning. Maybe they will be keen because they need
to get out of the house and make some cash; but who’s to say they will keep coming in
if the risk rises and a second wave hits. The minute restaurants have one or two staff
members drop out and they cannot find replacements, then they run the risk of not being able to
keep up with demand. There is no knowing what staff members will need to do right now to
keep themselves and their loved ones safe, and the uncertainty of whether or not a restaurant
can keep up with their staffing needs may be too much for some. You can’t run a restaurant
if there is no one there to run it and keep the cogs turning.
Parenting
Okay, so think about all those folks who have kids and will not be able to go out because
they may not feel comfortable getting a babysitter and can no longer leave the kids with gran
and gramps. Seriously. Date night for parents is going to look very different. Obviously
this will depend on the parent and the familial support system around them. Maybe some parents
have siblings that they wouldn’t eventually mind leaving their kids with so they can have
an escape – but that is not the case for everyone. There are many parents out there
who would usually just hire a sitter or just have a grandparent take care of their kids
so they can have a night on the town. With the risk of serious illness from the pandemic
being higher in our elderly, we know that it wouldn’t be wise to put grandma or grandpa
at risk for a seemingly frivolous thing like dinner at a restaurant. Babysitters pose a
different kind of risk… they may or may not have been out and about on the town. There
is no real way of knowing who they have seen and where they have been, and surely that
can freak some parents out. Now, it’s clear that restaurants will not be going out of
business just because they lose a portion of the date night crowd, but it does have
an impact on the bottom line. Date nights matter and sometimes those couples rack up
big bills! Cocktails to start, an appetizer or two, main meals, desserts, wine, maybe
a digestive... Losing the parent date night customers may not be the end of the world
but it is nonetheless one example of a group of people who can no longer just casually
go out to dinner. Pre-pandemic planning a date nig ht was hard enough.
Funding
Just like you, restaurants need to pay rent or they have a mortgage to pay. While some
governments have put programs in place to help out financially, not everyone is applicable.
Not only that, those bits of aid, while so appreciated, will not, can not, and do not
last forever. And many need to be paid back. So restaurants may close due to the sheer
fact that they cannot afford to stay open. Eviction is a serious fear for many. Some
spots that have high traffic because they are in a downtown area or near an attraction
also have very high rent. So, if they don’t have the regular traffic or tourism, they
are in serious trouble. There is no amount of takeout or delivery that can pay for some
of these places’ rent. The cost of running may be just too much and not worth it. It
is also important to consider that some places may already have been in a tight financial
situation before the pandemic hit. So if there is nothing in the bank, then there is nothing
to pay rent with. Even if there is some leeway and they only need to pay a portion of the
rent for now, some restaurants may not even be able to do that.
Supply
Okay, so imagine this. You are a fish restaurant and you always get your fish from a specific
fishmonger. You have a system. Then a pandemic occurs. You close your restaurant for a while
and then finally it is time to reopen. But, oh no! Your fishmonger is not in business
anymore or they have yet to reopen. All of a sudden you have trouble getting your fish
supplied on a regular basis and you cannot make the dishes that are a core part of your
business. So you think, okay, deep breaths. The next logical step would be to find a new
place to get the fish supply you need. But what if you can’t because there are none?
What if you do but they eventually also have to close? What if a new supplier is way more
expensive and you cannot afford it? Oh no! Then maybe you have to close your restaurant
because you cannot actually serve the food that you offer on your menu. Supply is everything
and supply chains are getting pretty lopsided and topsy-turvy right now. So supply is a
reasonable concern and may be the reason some restaurants close.
Fear
There is one major reason that restaurants may not survive this pandemic and that is
fear. People are straight up afraid. Is going to a restaurant worth possibly risking your
life? Is ordering in for pick up good enough? Is ordering in for delivery safe? Do we trust
the restaurant and its employees? Do we trust the people sitting next to us? There are so
many factors. There are so many things to be considered. Not all of the fears are necessarily
valid, but most of them need serious consideration. And with folks understandably staying away,
the result is fewer people going to restaurants. Because when it comes down to it, anytime
there are a lot of people in one room right now, it is cause for some fear. So it is really
hard to know what is right. The inability to know for sure may cause some folks to just
avoid dealing with restaurants at all. This next chapter is sure to be a rough one for
all restaurants. Fingers crossed that most of them stay afloat.
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